Safer streets prove ‘Tokhang’ success

Creating policy policing enforcers involved in illegal drugs should be her focus, since the mandate of the ICAD is a policy-making body.

Amid perceptions that newly-appointed anti-illegal drugs czarina Vice President Leni Robredo would be scrapping the Malacañang-backed Operation Plan (Oplan) “Tokhang,” Sen. Ronald de la Rosa on Tuesday highlighted the campaign’s success not only in terms of numbers, but more importantly, the overall peace and order situation in the country.

This, as lawmakers both from the Senate and the House of Representatives advised Robredo to focus on crafting her own anti-illegal drugs program, instead of joining actual law enforcement operations.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers and Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said it would be better for Robredo not to join the anti-illegal drugs raids and actual operations of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Barbers stressed that the Vice President, as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Illegal Drugs (ICAD), should craft new policies to guide the government’s campaign against the menace.

“Creating policy policing enforcers involved in illegal drugs should be her focus, since the mandate of the ICAD is a policy-making body,” said Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

For his part, Barzaga dissuaded Robredo from joining drug raids, explaining that “it is a practice that high officials do not join the operation, not only because of the danger it poses to their lives but also because they are not trained to conduct drug operations.”

“A lot of people are looking at the actions of the Vice President regarding the drug problem if she will be joining the drug operations. Whether she likes it or not, the media would normally follow her, thus the possibility of compromising the operation,” he said.

“If she really wants to find out how the operation is conducted, she should be immediately present once the operation is completed so she can personally see the inventory of the items ceased, the persons who were arrested, and even ask witnesses the manner of how the operation was conducted,” Barzaga added.

He noted that as co-chairman of the ICAD, she has the right to know beforehand the operations and she can monitor them by asking from time to time updates on the operation during the actual raid.

Barzaga earlier said Robredo should be given a leeway to prove her worth as co-chairperson of the ICAD which she accepted only last week.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson also chipped in, saying it is “not advisable” for Robredo to participate during actual drug stings.

De la Rosa, who spearheaded “Tokhang” as chief of the PNP, said the operations could compromise both Robredo’s safety and the missions themselves.

“She should be on the ground but her situation is unique because she is the co-chair and at the same time, Vice President. Her safety might be compromised as (she is the) VP. It is up to her if she will risk her life and join the operations,” De la Rosa said.

“It is better (to join the drug operations) to see the realities on the ground. If you are leading the war, it is hard if you are leading the war inside the airconditioned room. If you are leading the war you should be at the forefront of the fight in order to know the situation,” he said.

De la Rosa also argued the criticisms thrown by House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano which claimed that Robredo was “all talk.”

“It is hard to pre-judge. Let us wait after a couple of days, a couple of months to know what will happen in the drug situation in our country with her at the helm of the ICAD. So, let’s just wait,” he said.

De la Rosa cited the huge number of surrenderers since the war on drugs was launched upon the assumption of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016.

The senator stressed that his brainchild Oplan “Tokhang” is not a failure as administration critics, including Robredo prior to her appointment by Mr. Duterte, have been claiming.

“Without Oplan Tokhang, we could not have 1.6 million surrenderers. We could not have 130,000 drug personalities arrested. Without Oplan Tokhang, we could have not reduced the crime index volume by 49 percent, so what’s wrong with Oplan Tokhang?” he emphasized.

“Tokhang” is coined from two Visayan words “toktok,” which means “knock,” and “hanyo,” to plead or convince. The anti-drug strategy was adopted by the PNP from Duterte’s campaign during his time as mayor of Davao City.

Official data showed that from the launching of “Tokhang” on 1 July 2016 to 31 July 2019, a total of 5,526 drug personalities were killed during 163,767 police operations nationwide.